Arrivals down 17% in December

Visitor arrivals in the CNMI for the month of December totaled 43,122 or a 17 percent decline compared to the same period in 1997 as the regional crisis threatens to cripple the island’s tourism economy.

Japan, the island’s main market, posted a 19 percent decline in arrivals compared to the same month in 1997 or a total of 32,199. In December last year, Kinki Nippon Tourist arranged five chartered flights from Nagoya, Japan which brought over 1,000 passengers to the CNMI as part of the Visit the Marianas ’99 Campaign.

With the promotional campaign of Japan Airlines in January to March 1999 to lure more Japanese to visit the CNMI, tourism officials are hoping that this will boost the sagging tourism economy. The Marianas Visitors Authority is optimistic that the various activities lined up for this year’s campaign would entice more travelers to come here.

However, Tasi Tours, an affiliate of Japan Travel Bureau, expect a 10 percent slide in the number of Japanese visitors handled by the company this year. JTB has earlier projected that overseas travel during the year-end/New Year holiday would drop by 3.9 percent which the largest travel wholesaler said was due to the ongoing financial crisis and gloomy outlook of consumers.

Japan, the world’s second biggest economy, has been battling its worst recession since World War II.

According to JTB, outbound figures from Japan had dropped since September 1997, forcing European and American airlines to reduce the frequency of their service or use smaller aircraft.

Based on the figures released by Japan’s Ministry of Transport which was gathered from 50 leading travel companies, total number of Japanese travelers, both domestic and overseas, reached 334,520,000 covering the period November 1997 to October 1998, a 2.1 percent decline from the previous year.

The number of Japanese traveling overseas from September 1997 to October 1998 was estimated at 15.80 million, or a 6 percent decline compared to the same period of the previous year.

Hong Kong arrivals has consistently showed significant growth as it jumped 22 percent. The CNMI has been eyeing to develop alternative markets including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

For the first time since the Asian financial crisis began 16 months ago, the number of visitors from Korea registered an 11 percent growth Korean. MVA said the additional flights made by Asiana Airlines due to increased travel demand by honeymooners and family travelers.

Arrivals from the United States and China plunged by 22 and 30 percent respectively.